Stocks retreated as a rebound in semiconductor and technology shares lost steam, renewing concerns over the durability of the AI-driven rally.
The dollar strengthened. MSCI’s Asia Pacific equities index slipped 0.3%, with a gauge of regional chipmakers falling 0.7% and weighing on sentiment. South Korea’s Kospi Index dropped 1.4% even as a government official said the country is considering creating an investment fund using excess tax revenue from its semiconductor industry to support long-term growth.
Chipmakers Samsung Electronics Co. and SK Hynix Inc. both declined. Equity-index futures for Wall Street benchmarks pared gains from Friday, when US markets were shut for a holiday.
Contracts indicated European shares are set to open lower after closing last week at a record high. Elsewhere, Bloomberg’s gauge of the dollar strengthened against all of its Group-of-10 peers.
Brent crude fell 0.6% to about $71.70 a barrel, easing inflation concerns and boosting Treasuries. Markets have entered the second half of the year on a cautious footing as investors weigh the fallout from the Iran war’s energy shock and whether the stock rally driven by AI stocks can be sustained.
